Last week American folk singer Sam Amidon released his album Home Alone Inside My Head with almost no fanfare. The album features field recordings but in true Sam Amidon fashion he’s collected them from himself, recording them in his New York apartment.

“It was recorded onto my trusty Marantz tape recorder, mostly at my apartment in Yonkers NY, over the course of winter/spring 2002,” Sam Amidon explained. “I went on a long kayak ride in the northern seas and came back with the idea to make Home Alone Inside My Head. I carried the tape recorder around wherever I went, and made these self-induced field recordings as they emerged from inside. The first song, “Sally Gal,” is a fiddle tune that was first recorded by a Black fiddle player named Will Adam. Most of the other pieces were improvised/composed by myself with a couple other exceptions, including the track where I play along with some women singing; that one is a field recording of Ottawa Indians singing a melody that I had first heard in an old old Shape Note hymn.”

Have you managed to make it down to the newest Sydney Americana night Heartbreaker Sessions yet? We were there last Sunday and the place was packed – definitely a good sign seeing as it was their second show ever!

Sydney based singer-songwiter Imogen Clark last week announced the details of her upcoming EP. Titled Love & Lovely Lies, the EP is due for release on the 23rd October.

“In the past few years, I feel like I’ve really figured out exactly who I am and what sort of artist I am,” Imogen Clark explains. “To me, this record is the sound of that realisation because I feel it really captures this era of my life. I wanted to make a record which was a home-grown, raw, roots-y kind of project.”

Friday Folk Flashback

Last week we featured the traditional “Shove The Pig’s Foot (A Little Closer to the Fire)” for our Friday Folk Flashback. This week we thought we’d share the Mark Knopfler song “Oklahoma Ponies”, where he has added lyrics to “Shove The Pig’s Foot…”. The folk process in motion!

Alt-country and folk favourites Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes have announced their return with their upcoming album The Mountain, due for release on the 25th September.

The album is the first since 2013’s Black Coffee and is being billed as Lachlan Bryan’s most personal set of songs yet.

“I’ve grown a mountain-climber’s beard to release this record, and I think I need it,” Bryan explained. “In short, there’s blood in these songs – blood between the lines; blood in the back-story. Calling this album The Mountain makes sense – it’s a journey, but when it’s done you still have to get back down – or find another peak to climb. I genuinely hope that people find it as fulfilling a journey to listen to as it was to write and play and sing.”

To celebrate the album’s release Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes will be heading out on tour through the last quarter of the year. The full list of dates are below:

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Australian indie-folk trio Little May have released another taster off their forthcoming debut album For The Company, the beautiful “Seven Hours”.

“We were at an isolated property with no phone reception or outside distractions – the view we had was of a dark, ominous lake surrounded by fantastic mountain,” Little May explained. “Being around the majesty of the Snowy Mountains and the surrounding countryside was surreal and helped to unlock what is now “Seven Hours”.”

Take a listen to “Seven Hours” below:

For The Company is due for release on the 9th October. Little May will be touring nationally in September – the full list of dates are here:

Are you having withdrawals from The National Folk Festival? Are you anxious because the 2016 National is still seven months away? Well never fear because we have the perfect stop gap for you.

During this year’s Floriade Nightfest in Canberra The National Folk Festival will be taking over the Inspiration Hub for a night of “cool advertures in folk”. The show will take place on the 23rd September and will feature some fantastic local acts as well as a few surprises.

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Adelaide based folk singer Kaurna Cronin as just spent the last three months winding his way through Europe on a massive tour. But never fear because he’s about to head home and has a handful of shows already planned for his return.

Cronin released his new album Glass Fool at the beginning of July and this October will be the first chance he’s gotten to showcase it to local audiences. So far he has dates for South Australia and Victoria but we’re told there’s more to be announced.